Do you recognise this future businessman before he became flushed with success?

Joel Lamy

Joseph Valente’s cheeky grin became a feature for households across the nation as the Peterborough businessman earned a £250,000 deal with Lord Sugar in the latest series of The Apprentice.

But the man dubbed ‘Valentino’ has long been a star of the camera as this Peterborough Telegraph photo from 2002 clearly shows.

Joseph was captured by our photographer aged just 12 in Gault Park, Yaxley, but the green shoots of future business success were evident during what appears to be a school trip planting bulbs.

Joseph started out three years ago as a small pod in the plumbing industry but has quickly blossomed into something much bigger which soon caught the eye of Lord Sugar.

And as he toasts a 50/50 partnership with the peer, which will see him attempt to grow his Impra-Gas business nationwide, the Yaxley-born entrepreneur can attribute his ease in front of the TV cameras to the time when the PT came to see him 13 years ago.

The Apprentice winner Joseph Valente at Impragas with his sponsored football team Malborne UnitedThe Apprentice winner Joseph Valente at Impragas with his sponsored football team Malborne FC EMN-151222-140343009

Lord Alan Sugar (left) with Apprentice candidate, Joseph Valente, who has been revealed as the winner of the BBC One programme The Apprentice and will receive Lord Sugar's �250,000 investment in their business plan, as they meet together after the final show in central London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Sunday December 20, 2015. See PA story SHOWBIZ Apprentice. Photo credit should read: John Stillwell/PA Wire EMN-151220-223313001